


love sickly

by neonsign



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9722270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonsign/pseuds/neonsign
Summary: To the Risen writhing on the ground, Henry laughs and says, “You think you got it bad? No matter what I do, I can’t stop thinking about this guy.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentine's day
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> minor edit: 2/26
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> eta x2: would you believe me if i said i wrote this before i ever read henry's support with lissa

To the Risen writhing on the ground, Henry laughs and says, “You think you got it bad? No matter what I do, I can’t stop thinking about this guy.”

He crouches down, pulling a blade from the satchel he’s got slung over his shoulder. A small dagger but it’s all he needs. There’s a curse pinning the Risen to the ground; as long as it holds, there’s no threat. Robin would probably find fault with that.

“‘You shouldn’t do this alone, Henry,’ he would say! ‘What about back-up? What if something happens? What if the Risen pulls up with 18.6lbs of pressure at an 87° angle and breaks the curse and attacks you from the northwest in a pincher movement and cuts off your supply route and–’”

Henry’s face falls, but it’s okay. Only the Risen is there to see it.

“He’s so silly.”

The Risen shrieks. Henry pushes the blade into its chest. The Risen shrieks some more.

“Do you think he doubts my abilities? Wouldn’t that be a laugh! I could strip the flesh from his bones with a wave of my hand. Not that I would, but I could. Not that I want to, not at all.”

Henry hacks and saws back and forth until he can peel back skin and withered muscle to expose bone. Then he tries sawing through that, but it’s no use; practicing magic never really gave him much upper body strength. With a thoughtful hum, he places his hand over the wound and summons a wave of pure force, enough to make the bones fracture. The noise sends a shiver up his spine.

“Ooh! _Icky_. Hope that didn’t ruin what I need from you. I’m no surgeon after all. I guess if it did, I’ll just have to capture another one of your friends. And another and another until I get what I need.” Henry pauses thoughtfully and rests his chin on his hand, remembering too late that it’s covered in black blood. “I wonder if Robin would like to help. It’d be nice to have him here.”

Henry shakes himself and turns his attention to the present. He gets a good grip on the rib and, with all his strength, rips it back until it snaps. The _crack_ echoes through the forest. The Risen shrieks some more. Which is fine; as long as it doesn’t die and turn to ash, it can do whatever it likes. They’re far enough from camp that no one can hear it – or Henry, if this plan does go wrong.

He sniffs loudly, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

Robin says it’s wrong to sacrifice innocents but it’s okay because according to some of the other Shepherds, Henry isn’t innocent. That means things can only go right. Henry gets what he needs before the Risen dies? Good. The Risen breaks free and slaughters him and then makes its way to camp where it’s easily taken down in its weakened state? It’s win-win.

“You or me, pal,” Henry tells the Risen, “and the world’s no worse for it.”

But still, it would be a shame not to get to see Robin anymore.

Henry rests his chin on his hand again and sighs.

Robin’s awful fun. Maybe they don’t really like the same things but getting to see his reactions is nice. He makes the funniest faces and even when he orders Henry around, he never makes him do things he doesn’t like. Always asking ‘do you mind?’ Always telling him ‘you don’t have to if you don’t want to.’

The puddle of the Risen’s sort-of-blood slowly edges towards his toes. Henry sighs and swirls his finger all through it.

“Robin’s so funny,” he murmurs.

Sometimes Robin even does things to help him. Chrom’s right-hand man and he wastes his important time with a Plegian defector. Earlier that week he spent the whole day helping Henry sort his tomes. Robin smiled and said he likes doing things like that. He even read some of them afterwards, saying it would help to get a better understanding of things Henry’s capable of. That day was fun, sitting around the fire and reading together well int the night. Robin looked so sparkly and warm, especially when he fell asleep with his head on Henry’s shoulder.

Henry sighs and rests his head on his knees. The Risen growls and something gurgles in its throat.

There was a girl back at the orphanage that Henry kissed once. She wasn’t that friendly but she smelled good and tasted kinda nice. They both got beaten once they were found out, though. Henry wraps his arms around his legs and wonders what Robin tastes like.

He touches his cheek, dragging the back of his fingers along his skin. It’s not really the same; he can feel it’s his hand. He touches his lips. Robin is so full of exciting possibilities. He might taste like those candies Gaius has. Those two are good friends after all. That would be nice. Or maybe he tastes like that stew they have at camp a lot. Warm and thick with spiced smoked meat. That one’s better. That one feels like how he imagines a home feels.

An owl hoots somewhere. Henry opens his eyes. The Risen is silent. The Risen isn’t even there anymore; the dagger lies amongst a gritty mess of black dust mixed with blood, an ugly stain vaguely resembling the shape of a human. Henry stares blankly at it a moment before laughing.

“Woops! What a mess I am.”

But the laughter trails out quickly and Henry’s face falls for a second time. Accepting defeat, he picks up his dagger and gets to his feet. The walk back to camp doesn’t feel as long as it should be and he wonders if he’s dreading something. Time is cruel like that.

“Henry!”

As soon as fires from camp shine between the trees, a shadowy figure moves towards him, but it’s nothing too sinister. It’s just Robin gathering firewood, which he promptly drops before sprinting over. A smile spreads across Henry’s face. Without even trying!

“Gods, I’ve been looking _everywhere_ for you. Where have you-? Is that blood? Henry–”

“It’s so late, Robin, you should be in bed.”

“What? How could I? You’ve been gone since last night. We’re packing up camp tomorrow morning, if you weren’t–” He shakes his head. “And now you show up covered in blood. What happened?”

Henry stares. Shame on him for not smiling, because now Robin looks even more worried. That sweet face twisted into something painful, those warm eyes and the hair falling into them. Henry raises a hand to brush his fingers through it but the second he sees they’re covered in blood, he lets it fall. Robin’s eyes follow.

“Well… look, we need to get you cleaned up.” Robin unhooks the fastener on his cloak and shrugs it off. “Have you even eaten today? Here, you’re shaking.”

He holds the cloak out. When Henry doesn’t take it, he drapes it over his shoulders for him. Henry’s taller but the thing’s so big it fits just fine. It smells like the campfire and it’s warm from Robin’s body heat. Only then does Henry realize that, yeah, he’s freezing. But then Robin must be cold without his cloak.

“Let’s go.”

“Robin,” Henry says.

“What?”

“I would never leave. I was hunting for you, you know?”

“Uh–”

“I’m not very good at healing magic but I wanted to try.” Henry takes off the cloak and puts it back over Robin’s shoulders. “I thought that if I could harness the undead’s power, I could turn it around and make something like an energy tonic.”

“That’s… a very you way to approach it,” Robin says slowly, and finally there’s a smile on his face. It’s small and it disappears quickly, but it was there. “Does that mean you were fighting the Risen?”

Henry nods. “Got a lot of them, too! They probably won’t bother us much when we march tomorrow.”

“That’s – that’s _idiotic_ ,” Robin spits. “What if you had gotten hurt? Is any of that your blood? We can handle Risen in a group, but alone – you put yourself at risk and for what?”

“For you.”

A muscle twitches in Robin’s jaw.

“You’re so tired lately,” Henry says. “Do you remember when you fell asleep on me?”

Robin looks at the ground and the blush in his cheeks is just the cutest thing. “I do.”

“That’s what I mean. I wanted to help you.”

“You aren’t going to do me any good if you get yourself killed.”

“Same to you.”

“Wh- well, why the hell couldn’t you have just left it to the healers?”

Henry scratches his chin. “I wonder about that. I dunno! I just felt like it was something I had to do. I wanted it to be from me, you know? Does that make sense?”

Robin just stares and stares. From the camp behind him, there’s a lot of voices and noise; brutes banging fake swords together and people full of a big dinner sharing stories and laughter around the fires. That colour in his cheeks isn’t going away.

“It makes perfect sense,” he says quietly. His chest rises with a deep breath. “Alright, I’ll tell you what: that night I, uh, fell asleep on you? I slept really well. S-so how about we do things like that more often instead of putting ourselves in danger? How does that sound?”

“That sounds kinda nice. I had fun that night.”

“Yeah… me too.” A twig snaps as Robin steps forward. “Promise me, alright? Be careful.”

“Sure thing. And you too?”

“Me too.”

Robin places his hand against Henry’s cheek and it’s so much nicer than when he was touching it himself. It slips around to the back of his neck and pulls him down until their foreheads bump together. Henry’s heart goes wild until his chest hurts. It hurts a lot, but it’s a different kind of pain than what he’s used to. This one’s on the inside, and still not in a way that any curse would be capable of.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” Robin whispers. “But you’re covered in blood and you smell terrible.”

Henry blinks. Then he smiles and it’s another real one. Those happen so often around Robin. When Robin starts laughing softly, Henry does too.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Listen… I hope this isn’t too forward, but… I’d like to kiss you,” Robin says. “Can I?”

Eyes wide, Henry nods.

“But only if you want to. You’re always so obedient, I don’t wish to force–”

Henry kisses him. The camp is all noise of a loud and boisterous family but right there it’s just them, the heartbeat pounding in Henry’s ears, and the tiny moan of surprise Robin makes. That’s a nice noise. So is him breathing heavy through his nose and the rustle of fabric as Henry slips his arms around his waist. The hand on the back of his head tightens, keeping him there, and it’s nice to feel Robin demanding something for once. If this makes him happy, then Henry knows he’d kiss him until their last breaths.

Robin lets go and pulls back, looking as dazed as if he got knocked upside the head. Henry can’t help but laugh, beaming ear to ear. Robin really is so much fun.

“I was right,” he says. He licks his lips. Spices and smoke, that’s what that is for sure. “You taste like home.”


End file.
